Brake mechanism for use in railway-car trucks



April .6 1926. v

T. ELLIOTT BRAKE MECHANISM FOR USE IN RAILWAY CAR.TRUCKS Filed Feb. 16, 19 25 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR THomns E 1.1.1017,

ATTORNEYS April 6 1926. 1,579,920

T. E LLIOTT BRAKE MECHANISM FOR USE IN RAILWAY CAR TRUCKS Filed Feb. 16, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet, 2

. lNl/EN'I'OR 7710mm ELLIOTT,

Patented Apr. 6 1926i UNITED STATES PATENT lorries.

'rnomas nLLIoTnor CINCINNATI, OHIO,

ASSIGNOR 'ro THE CiNCINNA'rI CAR COM- PANY, OF WINTON PLACE, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

BRAKE ME HANISM non use IN RAILWAY-CAR TRUCKS.

Application filed February 16, 1925. Serial No. 9,613.

cinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brake Mechanism for Use in Railway-Car Trucks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing. This invention relates to improvements in brake mechanism for use inrailway 'car trucks. i

The object of the invention is to provide a ready means for taking up the lost motion between the wheels and the brake shoes due to the wear of'both as a result of use. This wear is permissible to a depth in the wheel periphery of about one and one-half inches and in the brake shoe to a depth of about two inches, these structures permittingof that amount of wear. But the lost motion or delay in making contact of the brake shoes with the wheels due to such wear is so objectionable that in critical situations when the train or car .should be stopped almost instantly, the delay may result in a fatal accident. It is to take up this lost motion or prevent it by periodic adjustments of the position of the brake shoes with reference to the periphery of the wheels that my invention relates.-

It comprises a lengthwise ad ustable lever column, being the column that extends from one brake lever to another,whereby to prevent the lost motion resulting from, wear the column may be lengthened to reposition the brake shoes near the wheel peripheries, so that but a short movement of the shoes is necessary to make the braking contact.

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view on the line H of Figure 3.

The numeral 1 generally designates a ra lway car truck of any conventional kind. This truck is equipped with a brake lever 2 pivoted at 3 and operable by a brake draft rod l. A brake hanger is shown at 5 being pivoted to the truck at 6.

with the brake levers The lever 2 and the hanger 5 each carry a brake composed of a head 7' and a shoe 8, of

any conventional construction. 1

The feature in which my invention isembodied is the column 9 which extends from the lever 2 to the hanger 5. Its office is two-- fold; first, that of transmitting the power exerted by the lever 2when drawn upon by the rod 4 to apply the brake, to the hanger 5 to cause it to apply its brake; and second, to constitute an adjustable means by which the normal distance between the lever 2 and the hanger 5 may be fixed so as to normally present the brake shoes close to their respective wheels. To these ends the column is composed of two general members, a sleeve or shell 10 having one endbifurcated to form jaws 11 to receive the lower end of the hanger 5 to which it is connected by a bolt or pin 12; and a rod13 slidably mounted within the sleeve and itself having a bifurcated end 14 to receive the lower end of. the lever 2, to which it is connected by a bolt or with respect to the sleeve it will lengthen the entire column sufficiently, according to the ad ustment, to cause the lever 2 and pin 15. lVhen the rod is adjusted outward hanger 5 to spread apart at theirtlower ends and position the brakes normally appropri ately near the wheels. The means of effect ing this adjustment which I prefer and have shown herein consists of a screwthreaded adjusting rod 16 fashioned at one end with an eye 17 to receive the bolt or pin 15 so as to thereby connect with the adjustable IOCl 13 and in effect with the lever 2. This adjustable rod extends freelywithinthe sleeve 10 and is provided with an adjusting nut '18 having a cone-shaped end 19 which fits within a correspondingly shaped recess 20 in the end of the sleeve. By turning the nut 18 on the threads of the adjusting rod and against the sleeve the rod will be projected further out of the sleeve and thereby will extend the generallength of the column. A look nut 21 is preferably pro vided to prevent the adjusting nut 18 from losing any given position.

It will now be seen that whenever the brake shoes and wheel peripheries, or either, have worn sufliciently to unduly separate the brake shoes from the wheels, which would lengthen the movement necessary to apply the shoes against the wheels, the column can be readily lengthened to reposition the shoes normally near the wheels. The adjustment is very simple and quickly made and the parts will maintain their relative adjusted positions indefinitely, or until excessive wear again occurs.

I will refer now to another feature of my column, namely, the friction device, the purpose of which is to create friction between the sleeve 10 and the adjusting rod 13 sufficient to prevent the adjusting rod from be ing pulled out more or less, beyond the point of its adjustment, by the lever 2 when released from the pull of the operating rod 4 or when otherwise returned to a normal position.

I have found that in such a case, particularly if there happens to be undue friction between the lower end of the lever 2 and the rod 13 at the connection 15, this return move- -movement of the lever instead of causing it to pivot on the pin 15 and draw its brake shoe from the wheel, will tend to turn on the connecting pin 3 and cause its lower end to pull the adjusting rod further out with the result of moving the adjusting nut 18 away from its seat 17 which when the brakes are next applied will cause the nut 18 to fly back and heavily strike the shell 10-sometimes with a blow equal to 5,000 lbs. It is therefore to prevent this unseating of the nut 18 by this accidental drawing out of the adjusting rod 13 from the casing, that I provide this friction device now to be described which will permit the rod 13 to be forcibly projected by the action of the nut 18 and screw threads on the rod 16 but will not permit the rod otherwise to be projected from the casing.

This friction device consists of a housing '22 preferably cast on the sleeve 10 and formlng interiorly a cylinder within which is fitted a friction plunger 23 adapted to make contact with the rod 13 and force the rod into strong frictional engagement with its bore within the sleeve as indicated at 24, more particularly in Figure 1. In order to make this frictional contact constant and automatic or always present, I urge the friction plunger 23 against the red by means of an expansion spring 25. A cap plate 26 closes the housing 22 and is secured by bolts and nuts 27. In this way a firm support for the spring 25 is afforded.

When the rod 13 is adjusted outward by the nut 18 and threads on the rod 16 the friction between the rod 13 and the sleeve is overcome. But this friction is suiiicient to prevent the rod 1.3 from being otherwise projected out of the sleeve for the purpose stated.

It will now be observed that my invention provides, first, for the elongation of the connecting column between the lever and hanger which carry the brake shoes, so as to take up or prevent lost motion due to wear between the brake shoes and periphery of the wheels; and second, provides a frictional engagement between the two members of the column suflicient to prevent the elongation of the column by relative movement of them from accidental causes.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s:

other, such means consisting of a'threaded' rod through which one of said pivotspasses, and an adjusting nut on said rod adapted to extend the rod and its pivot, to thereby lengthen the column.

2. In a brake mechanism, the combination with a brake lever and a brake hanger, each adapted to manipulate a brake shoe, of a column connecting said lever'and hanger and comprising two members relatively adjustable one to the other to lengthen the column, one of saidmembers being pivoted to the hanger and the other to the lever, and means to adjust one member with respect to the other, such means consisting of a threaded rod through which one of said pivots passes, and an adjusting nut on said rod adapted to extend the rod and its pivot, to thereby lengthen the column, and friction creating means to prevent said members from changing their relative position from accidental causes.

3. In a brake mechanism, the combination with a brake lever and a brake hanger, each adapted to carry a brake shoe, of a column connected to said lever and hanger and comprising a sleeve, an adjustable rod within it and an ad usting rod connected with the adjustable rod and extending into the sleeve and having a thread and nut by which to operate such adjusting rod.

4:. In a brake mechanism, an extendable brake column comprising a: sleeve having an extension for connection with a member of the brake mechanism, a rod slidably mount- 7 column consisting of a sleeve having a'bifurcated projection at one end, a slidable rod mounted therein and also having a bifurcation at one end, a friction device comprising a housing carried by the sleeve, a plunger and spring therein adapted to frictionally bind the rod and sleeve, and an adjusting device comprising a screw threaded adjusting rod adapted to connect with the bifurcated end of the adjustable rod and a nut thereon adapted to work against the sleeve when rotated to advance its rod.

sisting of a housing carried by the sleeve,

and a plunger and spring within said housing adapted to press the rod against the housing to prevent its accidental movement relative to the sleeve. s

ture.

THOMAS ELLIOTT.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signa- 0 

